Jay Wexler

An easy to read discussion of Establishment Clause cases, and ways in which minority religions have been using the opportunities opened by pro-Christian decisions to leave their own mark on the public square. The author visited with some of the quirky religions (and non-religions) that have begun putting up their own displays and handing out their own material in the public square next to the ubiquitous Christians. He proposes this "cacophony" as he calls it to the domination of the public forum by one religion only, and urges us to look at this as opportunity. He does detail many cases in which this didn't work out. Some of these cases actually had the best outcome - removing religion from the public offices and schools - but some of them had the effect of just sort of silencing the other voices while giving lip service to inclusion. The violence and grief many have suffered for their efforts was downplayed a bit too much for me; I think with his thesis, that the noisy public square is a good thing, is ill served by these cases, and they deserve a better airing. Also no discussion of how much trouble can be stirred up by all this extraneous activity creating distractions from the work that needs to be done in these public institutions, and that the mere act of balancing so many competing claims cuts into the ability of the governmental offices to function. How much I don't know, since I have not seen any studies. Overall, a bit superficial in places, but a worthy book.… (altro)